Impulse motor



Patented Sept. 27, 1960 llVIPULSE MOTOR John V. M. Digirolamo, Orange, NJ., assignor to The Lionel Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 5, 1957, Ser. No. 651,006

'1 Claim. (Cl. 310-21) This invention relates to a new and improved impulse motor adapted to provide rotary motion.

It is an object of my invention to provide a new and im.- proved impulse motor wherein a vibratory member induces rotary motion of a revolvable element through suitable connecting means.l

Another object of my invention is to produce rotation of a wheel by a pulsating motion which may be imparted to a belt wound about the wheel, the belt having one end resiliently anchored.

It is still a further object of my invention to provide a new and improved motor operable by pulses of electric current by which the armature of an electro-magnet induces rotary motion of a revolvable element through suitable connecting means.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear from the detailed ydescription of the preferred embodiment il-lustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a front view of my vibratory motor with parts broken away and shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the vibratory motor as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. l;

Fig. '4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of Fig. 3 taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

In Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, there is generally shown vibratory motor having a supporting frame 12. At one end of the supporting frame 12 is a mounting portion 14 integral with the frame, extending upwardly, which supports shaft 16 for free rotation.

Aflixed to the shaft 16 is a wheel or pulley 18 having flanges 20 and 22 about its outer periphery forming a groove 24 therebetween. When the wheel 18 is rotated by means to be hereinafter described, it transmits its rotating motion to the shaft 16. Any type of suitable gearing 17 may be connected to the shaft 16 to produce desired resultant motion.

Mounted on the end of frame 12, opposite to the upstanding portion 14, is a magnetically conductive bracket 26. The lower portion 28 of this bracket, extends longitudinally yto the frame 12. Lateral shifting of bracket 26 is prevented by the flange 30 of frame 12 which rides against the edge 32 of base portion 28 of the bracket.

A screw 36 extends through a key slot 38 in portion 28 of bracket 26 into the threaded opening 40A in base 12. This adjusting screw 36 allows bracket 26 to be longitudinally adjusted with respect to the rotating element or wheel 18, mounted on portion 14 of the frame `12 for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

Bracket 26 supports the electro-magnet 44 and the resilient spring arm 46. On the upper extremity of arm 46, in a posit-ion substantially opposite to but separated from the core 48 of electro-magnet 44, is the armature 50. Lead wires 52 and 54 extend through the opening 56 in the outer shell 58 of the electro-magnet 44 for connection to a suitable source of current. The shell 58 is preferably formed of magnetic material. Spring arm 46 is mounted at its 'lower extremity by rivets 59, 59', or by other suitable means, to bracket 26.

Spring arm 46 normally holds armature 50 spaced away from electro-magnet core 48, however, when the coil 60 of the electro-magnet is energized, armature 50 will be attracted to the core 48. If alternating current is employed, armature 50 will move substantially backwards and forward in the direction of arrow 61, Fig. l, under the action of the reversing magnetic field induced by the current. The same vibratory movement of armature 50 can be caused by intermittent direct current, since the magnetism of the core 48 could attract armature 50 and when the current is interrupted spring arm 46 would pull the armature away from core 48.

In order :that the vibratory action of armature 50 will rotate shaft 16, a belt or cord 62 made of suitable material is looped about the wheel 18, in the groove 24. One extremity of the belt 62 is firmly anchored by suitable means to the armature 50 as will be hereinafter described.

The other extremity of connecting belt 62 is connected to one end of a coil spring 68, the other end of the coil spring being connected to a portion of the frame 12. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1, the other end of spring 68 is fastened to bracket 26, however, it could just as well be fastened to any portion of frame 12 and achieve the same results.

In Figs. 3 and 5, a preferred construction for securing belt 62 is illustrated wherein a clamping member 64 is fitted into an opening 65 in a portion of the armature 50 and riveted or otherwise fastened thereto as indicated at 64a. The clamping member 64 is tubular in shape and has a hollow interior 66.

In assembling the clamping member to the belt 62, the belt 62 is first looped about the wheel 18 and one end resiliently anchored by means of coil spring 68. The other end of belt 62 is then drawn through the hollow interior 66 in a direction away from the wheel 18 and precalcuflated tension is placed upon the belt 62. When the desired tension has been realized, a conventional crimping tool is employed to collapse extremity 67 and firmly grip the belt 62 therebetween fixed anchoring belt 62vwith respect to armature 50.

'In the preferred embodiment shown (Fig. 1), the means for resiliently anchoring one end of belt 62 is a coil spring 68 wherein one end of the spring engages belt 62 and the other end of the coil spring 68 is mounted on bracket 26.

It will be understood that the resilient fastening of one end of belt 62 could be effected by resilient means other than coil spring 68, without affecting the mode of operation.

As the armature 50 is attracted toward the energized core 48 of electro-magnet 44, it .exerts a pulling force on belt 62 in the direction of arrow 70 (Fig. 1). As belt 62 is already under tension from spring 68, the pulling action of the armature causes the belt 62 to frictionally grip the periphery of wheel 18 and rotates wheel 18 in a clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 1, a distance substantially equal to the distance armature 50 travels.

When core 48 is rde-energized, armature 50 returns to the position shown in Fig. 4 thereby relaxing the tension on belt 62. Spring 68 then exerts a counter pull on belt 62 in the direction of arrow 74 (Fig. 1) causing belt 62 to slip about the periphery of wheel 18 taking up the slack caused by the change of position of the anchored end of bel-t 62.

The belt 62 is now in its initial position ready to cause further clockwise rotation of wheel 18 when armature 50 is again attracted by energization of core 48.

Conventional alternating current, supplying substantially 120 pulses of current per second, will impart 120 intermittent rotations per second to wheel 18. This intermittent rotation, when transmitted to suitable gearing 17, will result in apparent continuous rotational motion at the output of the gearing for l.all intents and purposes.

By means of adjusting screw 36, extending through key slotv38,' the position of. bracket 26, the electro-magnet 44 and armature 50 supportedthereon can be adjusted so as'to insure proper initial tension in belt 62. This tension, exerted by resilientk fastening means 68, assists in .eliminating possible slippage between belt 62 and wheel 18 which might occur when armature S is energized, if the belt 62 .were lloose about the periphery of wheel 18.

lt is understood in the embodiment shown that a loop has been made in belt 62 so as to provide a frictional bind between belt .62 and wheel 18 around the complete cirf cumference of wheel 18. However, this belt 62 could be wrapped` around the wheel 18 additional times if so desired rwithout departing from the spirit of this invention so long as the binding friction introduced between the belt and the wheel would not preclude the slipping of the belt 62 around wheel 18, under the counter pulling action of coil spring 68. Likewise, belt 62 could be in engagement with less than the complete circumference of the wheel and stillwould provide the desired results.

1n the embodimentrdiscussed hereinfa particular application of the invention is described with relation to a vibratory motion wherein the pulsating action of therbelt `is caused bywan actuating armature of an electro-magnet- It is understood, however, that devices other than an electro-magnet could be utilized to supply pulses to one end of the bel-t without departing from the spirit of the invention.

It will be also understood that the belt herein described can have any suitable shape and be made of any suitable material, such as cotton, rayon, nylon, leather, wire or 4 plastic material, which can frictionally grip the surface of wheel 18.

I have described what I believe to be the best embodi ments of my invention. I do not wish, however, to be confined to the embodiments shown, but what I desire to cover in Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

Apparatus for converting vibratory impulses to continuous rotary motion, comprising, a mounting base, a pulley rotatably mountedonsaid mounting base for rota tion about a substantially horizontal axis, an upstanding bracket connected to said mounting base, a vibratory member connected` tosaid Ybracket at its one end and having its opposite end extending upwardly therefrom in a plane at substantially rightv angles from the axis of said pulley, a solenoid connected to said mounting bracket and positioned adjacent said vibratory member on the opposite side therefrom from said pulley at a spaced position therefrom and within the attractive range thereof, a yline resiliently mounted on said bracket at its one end and being looped around said pulley, said vibrating member including a hollowed tubular clamping member adjacent the upper end thereof, said line extending into said hollowedy tubular clamping member and being anchored in the remote end thereof, mechanical advantage means connected to said pulley whereby to increase the tension power developed thereby, and means to energize said solenoid whereby to vibrate said vibratory member to effect rotation of said pulley.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,490,125 OLeary Apr. 15, 1924 1,522,260 OLeary Jan. 6, 1925 2,456,118 Foster Dec. 14, 1948 k" "nd 

